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Published: July 25th 2006
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So now that I am back home, time to write a bit about the south island. When I left off, we were on the ferry from the North Island to the South Island. Once driving off of the ferry, it was time to point the trusty Britz on to the Marburg wine areas. Stopped in at Nautilus winery and got some killer Pecorino sheep cheese and a bottle of Chardonnay that miraculously made it back home with me.
NZ is home to some of the curviest narrowest highways I have seen. Something may look close on the map, but there could be endless curves and steep switch backs in between - making 100k’s take 2 hours. We made our way to Motueka, just south of Able Tasman. Being that it was full moon, which meant a night exploration from the camp to the ocean. While driving into town, I noticed that the tide was out and boats were sitting on the ground - that’s a huge tide! I wanted to see the tide coming in. Adventure went from back roads, to ocean trail, then through a golf course in the rain and back to town to find the pub had
Hike to Broken River
Access to Broken River. closed by 9:00pm.
Following morning was a quick 2 hour hike around Able Tasman national park, then pointing the Brtiz to Pancake rocks. A stop a huge swinging bridge on some old mining land and a zip line back, and then we were finally to Pancake rocks just as the sun was setting. Well this bus doesn’t stop and we braved insane rains and slept at the beach town of Okarito. West coast NZ has never let me down as the rainiest place on earth I have ever been. Buckets of rain combined with one lane bridges that are shared with train tracks and infinite switch backs, makes for interesting driving.
Franz Joseph glacier is unique in that the glacier comes down to a rain forest. Non stop rain would not stop me from going to see a glacier. A 2 hour adventure in pouring rain, including standing under a waterfall, meant that the gore-tex had started to soak through in areas. Back in the Britz and we were off in search of sun and snow. Driving up and through the rainforest brought us to snow and then the ‘Alps’. We landed in Queenstown with Hostel on the
Rope Tow
Tow to the sky mind to find that it was school holiday so the town was full of ski tourist. This is Nazi’s only ski town, so Aussies, NZ and Japanese alike flock here. Many phone calls and 2 rooms were found in 2 separate locations. No worries, warm bed, laundry and a night of exploring the watering holes. 3 nights total were spent in Queenstown, the 2 remaining in a ‘Holiday Park’. This is probably the only place you will find a full camp ground during the winter. One day was spent at Coronet Peak skiing. Great conditions, a bit busy, but no complaints for July skiing.
I have secretly lusted after Para gliders, after watching them in Telluride. After seeing them in Queenstown, it meant that a morning hike up to the top of the gondola - and I must tandem paraglide. First a quick 3 runs down the most dangerous street luge. Here in America these are usually on ‘tracks’ and fairly safe. Well here they are on paths, with drops to get airborne. I can only imagine the road rash that comes off of there, I even got rammed at the end before I could get off and still
might have a bruise in my back.
NZ is the land of no legal forms, walk up pay my money and I was off on a tandem flight. It was better than expected, so another flight in the morning was in store. Got a good taste of aerobatics as well got to fly a fair amount including the landing on the second flight. Needless to say, I am addicted. Go paraglide anytime you can!
Treble Cone was enroute to Rolleston, so after paragliding a quick 1.5 hour jaunt to Treble Cone. A visit with the Keas (more on them later), and turns are being made in untracked powder. I will never get sick of the views from skiing in NZ. NZ skiing is like being on Gold Hill (telluride) everywhere. Above tree line with views forever. While walking back to the Britz, a Kea is trying to take a dishwashing soap bottle. Keas are the worlds only Alpine Parrot. They are very smart, curious and collecto maniacs. They love to collect things, tear out rubber stripping or whatever else they can get into. I could watch them for hours, pure entertainment.
Back “home” to Rolleston where I
Ticket Window
Not your 'normal' ski ticket window. spent my summer of 1992 as an AFS exchange student. Next morning I leave mom with mum, and Becky and I are off to a club ski field - Broken River. I knew that these are primitive, and after navigating the Britz with chains on up a dirt icy road we park with about 8 other vehicles. Hmm a lift to take gear up, oh don’t need that - just carry skies and backpack - wrong. 25 minutes later, sweating we make it to the ticket window. Get our nut cracker belts and another 10 minute hike and we are at the first tow. This is a rope tow only ski area, as most club fields are. These tows are fast, long and have pulleys. The idea is to get going with your hand and get this metal nut cracker on the rope, which then pulls you up - all before the first pulley. Over an hour and we are finally skiing. It was like skiing the T-bar and Lift 6 at breck, with a bit of Aspen and GoldHill from Telluride mixed in. Met up with a local who has been there for 20 years and got all of
Nut Cracker
The infamous nut cracker the history. A night in the camper van and back at it the next morning. Next day included a short tour over to Craigeburn where tickets are allowed. Storms approaching so back out of bounds and over to Broken River for some quad burning steps with untracked snow.
Now this is getting long, and if you are still reading - the rest of the trip was me playing tour guide around Christchurch. It rained and rained more - which meant heaps of snow in the mountains. Hopes of fresh powder on Friday did not come to fruition because it takes a couple of days for avalanche control and snow removal to be completed - so ski areas were closed. Saturday brought no wind, warm sun, blue skies and I am sure epic snow in the mountains. Instead our 20 hour journey home began.
We covered a lot of area, and some of the best times were just driving and seeing the country side. I was successful at keeping left on the roads and navigating the Britz through busy roundabouts and narrow dirt mtns roads alike. Renting a campervan was fun, but I missed meeting other travelers which comes
Remarkables
View from Coronet to the Remarkables with taking other transport and staying in hostels more often.
New Zealand is a rocking place, and it is always great to see my old host family. They fed us more than anyone could possibly eat. New Zealand is a must see place before you die - and super easy to travel around. It’s a country catered to travelers - especially budget.
If you enjoy these pictures you can see more at : http://www.flickr.com/photos/29singlespeed/sets/72157594210306994/
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